Asia’s gasoline refining margins strengthened on Friday, ending the week higher as stricter U.S. sanctions raised concerns of disrupted global supply flows, while stronger crude oil prices lent support to the market.
The crack (GL92-SIN-CRK) edged $0.22 higher from the previous day to $10.09, logging a 1.61% gain for the week.
Tightened U.S. sanctions on Moscow have disrupted a bustling trade in discounted Russian oil to China and India, roiling shipping markets and pushing up oil prices, Reuters reported on Friday.
Still, Russia’s oil exports could be sustained if it finds workarounds to the latest U.S. sanctions package, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Thursday, as it forecast that growth in global oil supply would outpace demand this year.
In Europe, gasoline stocks independently held in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) refining and storage hub fell by nearly 10% on the week, their first decline in seven weeks, data from Dutch consultancy Insights Global showed.
Gasoline inventories stood at 1.53 million metric tons, falling on higher exports to the United States and slowing imports, Insight Global’s Lars van Wageningen said.
Meanwhile, naphtha stockpiles climbed by about 20% to hit 459,000 tons in the same week, the data showed.
In the naphtha market, the refining margins gained (NAF-SIN-CRK) $10.38 on the day to hit a nearly four-month high of $117.68, as steady trading activity and prospects of tighter supply supported the market. The crack rose 5.44% this week.
REFINERY NEWS
Independent U.S. refiner PBF Energy PBF said it has no estimate for how long its 156,400-barrel-per-day (bpd) Martinez, California, refinery will remain shut following a fire on February 1, according to a statement released on Thursday.
NEWS
Oil prices rose on Friday and were poised to end three weeks of decline, buoyed by rising fuel demand and expectations that U.S. plans for global reciprocal tariffs would not come into effect until April, giving more time to avoid a trade war.
SINGAPORE CASH DEALS
One naphtha deal, one octane-97 gasoline deal, one octane-95 gasoline deal and one octane-92 gasoline deal.
Source: Reuters